The last few days have flown by quickly. One thing we have learned is that the dry season actually doesn't start until December, despite what all the American books about Thailand might tell you. =) It has been raining a lot here, about equal amounts of rain and sun I would guess. We finally decided not to let the rain stop us and so off we went to climb in it.
We spent the 22nd and 23rd climbing at Ton Sai and East Railay. We climbed at the Fire Wall on Ton Sai, and I think the approach was as hard as the climbing! A very muddy scramble up rocks and roots to reach the bottom of the cliff. It was great climbing though and we met some cool people, again from America. There are TONS of Americans down here and it seems like they are either from Colorado or Alaska. Makes sense, I guess.
Yesterday we decided to take a break day from climbing since we had climbed hard 3 days in a row, and besides we woke to rain just pouring down from the sky. I think someone was wringing out the clouds or something because it was really coming down! We decided to go to Krabi for the day to check out a national park.
We made the sweaty scramble and hike over to East Railay where we picked up a longtail for the 30 minute ride over to Krabi, which seems like a fisherman's city... fishing and squid boats everywhere and a very long harbor filled with very odd-looking boats. I wish I could post pictures so you could see what I mean. They looked like some sort of weird toy pirate ships with nets and lines all over, all sorts of different colors, something out of a movie almost.
In Krabi we grabbed a taxi to the Khao Phanom Bencha national park, deep in the jungle north of Krabi. We hiked around for 3 hours, scrambling up slippery rocks beside a 7-tiered waterfall which was incredible... the scramble down was made harder by the sudden downpour as we were sitting up under the highest waterfall. I'm amazed one of us didn't fall in.
After the waterfall we decided to take a hike 750 meters to a "viewpoint." We figured half a mile would be short and quick... boy, were we wrong! It was half a mile straight up. Not kidding. That was easily the steepest hike I have ever done, and it was pouring rain, and everything was all mud and roots. We almost turned back but decided the viewpoint would probably be worth the hike. At the top, we were greeted by an expansive view of... clouds. Aaack! We should have known, since it was storming and all, that there would be no view. Whoops. Ah well, it was a sporty hike anyways, and felt good to get out and stretch our legs since climbing has been mostly an upper body and core workout with all the overhangs.
It was then that I discovered the leeches. Two big, fat, squishy leeches attached to my foot and leg. Now, I don't really mind leeches at all, back on the farm in Minnesota we used to get our fishing bait by wading into the creek, waiting a few minutes, then walking back out and collecting the leeches that had stuck to our legs which would be good for a full day of fishing. But these leeches just sort of stuck to our skin. When I peeled off the leeches in the jungle, those suckers had put their fangs deep inside of me and blood started gushing out. The holes were small but deep! Ew. The blood ran down my foot and into my sandal. Oh well, I figured, the blood would wash out any disgusting things the leeches might have put into me.
So we started down, and of course it was even more slippery, and I promptly crashed in the mud bashing my ribs on a tree. I was covered with mud, sweat, rain, and blood, and I was loving it. All I could do was laugh at our situation, it was pretty ridiculous. The blood was pooling under my foot in my sandal, making it sticky, ew. We finally made it down, and we smelled horrible. I'm not sure how Jamie managed to avoid falling but somehow he did. I guess he is more dexterous than me. Anyways, I felt bad for our cabbie because we both smelled horrible and I looked like Swamp Thing.
Back in Krabi we caught a longtail with a couple from Belgium who I felt really bad for again because they looked clean, she was wearing a skirt and we stunk to high heaven. Jamie and I were laughing our asses off because we looked so silly. It was still pouring rain and we were soaking wet. About halfway through the boat ride I noticed the Belgian girl had started crying, and cried most of the way through the ride. I hope it wasn't because of the horrible smell wafting to the back of the boat.
When we got back to East Railay it was low tide so we had to jump out of the boat into the water. Now I am soaked again but I don't care because I am already soaked. The belgian girl wasn't so keen on the jump. We dragged our dripping carcasses over to West Railay where we splurged on cappuccinos and hot garlic bread with homemade pesto. Mmmmm. =) What a day! Probably the most fun I've had here so far.
Last night was our last night in the Dream Valley Resort. Tonight we move over to the cheaper Green Valley Resort down the road for an extra two days in Ton Sai. We're planning to climb hard over the next two days then on the 27th take our rest day as our day to travel to Koh Yao Noi, off to our next adventure. I hope the leeches don't follow.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Liz and Jamie
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